Improvement

Registered User

Has anyone had a similar experience? I haven't posted for a while as life seems to have reached a settled spell for a while and my husband is on an even keel for the moment. He's just had a mini mental test and suprised us all by getting a score of 29! When he was first diagnised, he scored 26 then 6 months later 27 and now 29. I saw a report in the media that Reminyl (which he is on) has proved to be a better drug than the doctors thought as it appeared to not only support the memory that was left but also to imrpove it. That's one up for NICE!
In every day living, he can't understand conversations, doesn't know the names of everyday items, needs help to choose his clothes, can't shop on his own and gets lost in places he hasn't, visited for a while!
Also, he has to go into hospital for an operation in a few months time. I realise the whole episode will be trying for him, but how have other TP people found their partners after an operation? I've also read that there can be a temporary or permanent downturn of AD. I don't want to believe all I read but I do like to be prepared.
Susie

Registered User

Sorry Susie, can't help on this one. Feel sure you will get a lot of info from other members. Just wanted to let you know you are not on your own. Thinking of you...Let us know how everthing progresses, Connie

Registered User

Sorry, I missed this thread. My Gran died before AD really got a major grip, however she was in hospital several times and for a couple of operations.

After the first operation, we were horrified when they let her go home. She didn't appear to know where she was and only vaguely recognised us (this was actually prior to an AD diagnosis). However, when she got home she was back to her old self within a few days.

For a couple of years after that she was in and out of hospital and was often a bit disorientated while in there, but we always found that she picked up as soon as she got home.

We put it down to unfamiliar surroundings, to be honest I think a lot of how she reacted was down to the care she received. The first ward was a geriatric ward and was dreadful, but all the other wards were fantastic with great nurses that seemed to 'gee her up a bit'. Although she got a wee bit confused she recovered very quickly when she returned home....it never ceased to amaze us at the time (and in spite of everything else). Hopefully you'll have a similar/better experience than we did.

Registered User

Lovely news for you and your husband, I wish you both well.
My husband has vascular dementia and he is also on an even keel at the moment, though not as yet on any drugs.
He is about at the same stage as your husband, although he does have very clear spells from time to time, he scored 25 on his last mmse.
He was in hospital for nearly four weeks recently and it confused and upset him greatly, he couldn't remember any of the family visiting him (including me!) and had trouble recognising his children and grandchildren. We were very worried about him as he didn't seem to know what was going on at all.
He has been at home for several weeks now and is almost back to 'normal'. It took a couple of weeks for him to get there, but he is 82 and had a lot of other health problems. He has completely forgotten his stay in hospital...just as well really.
I agree with Mandy and put it down to unfamiliar surroundings as he gets confused in other unfamiliar places too.